Jude Law protests against Russian piracy charges for Greenpeace activists

The Hollywood star was joined by musician Damon Albarn and fellow thespians
Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter outside the Russian Embassy in London to
demonstrate against piracy charges faced by Greenpeace activists protesting
against oil drilling in the Arctic circle.

12:01PM BST 06 Oct 2013

Rock stars and celebrities joined a worldwide vigil in support of 30 Greenpeace activists whose jailing by Russia after a protest against Arctic oil drilling sparked a new row between Moscow and the West.

Actors Jude Law, Imelda Staunton, Downton Abbey star Jim Carter and musician Damon Albarn, frontman of British band Blur, joined about 1,000 people gathered outside the Russian embassy in London, as other protesters rallied in cities across the world.

Pressure has been mounting on Russia from activists and governments shocked by Moscow's decision to level piracy charges against Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise crew.

Jude Law voiced support for his friend Frank Hewetson, one of the activists.

But Russia displayed little inclination to show leniency as it hit out at both Greenpeace and the Dutch government under whose flag the environmental lobby group's ship sailed.

"Everything that happened with the Arctic Sunrise is a pure provocation," said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov.

Russian authorities impounded the 950-tonne icebreaker last month after it approached the world's first oil rig in the pristine Barents Sea - the focus of energy companies from around the world.

A court in Russia's northwestern region of Murmansk has since charged all the crew members - who come from 18 countries including Britain and the United States - with offences that carry jail terms of up to 15 years.

The incident has set off a burgeoning diplomatic effort to secure the activists' release despite Russia's tough stance.

The Netherlands broke more than two weeks of silence about the case on Friday by starting legal action under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea aimed at quickly freeing the crew.

Mr Meshkov fired back Saturday that the Dutch had been repeatedly warned about the dangers of the ship's actions.

"In the past year-and-a-half, Russia has asked the Dutch side on many occasions... to forbid this ship's actions," he told the RIA Novosti news agency.

But several governments now appear ready to add the Greenpeace detentions to their growing log of complaints about Russia's treatment of human rights issues under President Vladimir Putin.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had expressed concern about her country's crew member during talks with another Russian deputy foreign minister on the sidelines of a regional forum in Bali.

The US State Department also said it was "monitoring the case very closely".